Pennsylvania Title Woes; How did YOU get your A legal?

[ba49]

I don't know how PA. works but in Ohio if you know a salvage dealer they could get a new title for an abandoned vehicle. If they tow in an abandoned vehicle I believe they can apply for title. Maybe Pa. has a similar law.
Bill

[FordMike]

Originally Posted by Chris in WNC

is you dad's friend still available? or his heirs? THEY might be able to apply for a duplicate since the title was lost.

find a sympathetic cop or DMV worker to run the serial number and see what's in the current data base both PA & national.

1986 I bought my first A from a farmer in Tipton GA.
he gave me a handwritten bill of sale and assured me that was all I needed.
at the tag office in Jacksonville FL they wised me up to the REAL facts.
fortunately they gave me name and address of the previous owner who was local.
I tracked him down and he was kind enough to apply for a duplicate title and sign it over to me, no charge.

your results may vary.......

I think I am going to go this route at first and try to have the numbers checked out by a cop. I would be willing to bet that it won't be too helpful because I know a little back story on this truck, and I would assume the current title holder has long since passed and tracking down heirs will be easier said than done.

Thanks for this bit of advise tho!

Originally Posted by Terry, NJ

Welcome to Pa! Or at least it's screwy (and expensive) DMV laws. I'm new here myself and I prefer Jersey's laws to this outdated system. (And if you think it's tough doing a car, try a boat with out a title) Probably the easiest thing to do is is to register it as a hotrod or a homebuilt. Modernizing Pa's DMV laws would be a good election issue. As far as the truck's concerned, How about if Grampa gave it to you before he died and it wasn't mentioned in the will. That is, if it isn't part of the will. Furthermore, In Jersey, There was a provision in the law stating that there was no sales tax is collected when there was a transfer between family members for no consideration. I don't know if Pa has it or not but you can research it.
Terry

I recently was given a truck by my grandfather and we went through Triple A (god what a mess!) to get the title transferred to me. The state is hungry for tax money so it had to be sold to me for $1. I guess so the state could get a whole six cents out of the deal but whatever.

I've heard Jersey is quite a bit easier on their laws, too bad I don't have any family there!

Originally Posted by ba49

I don't know how PA. works but in Ohio if you know a salvage dealer they could get a new title for an abandoned vehicle. If they tow in an abandoned vehicle I believe they can apply for title. Maybe Pa. has a similar law.
Bill

I will definitely be checking into this. The truck was originally, oh about 30 years ago, abandoned behind a building in town with a few other junk cars. It could have been sitting there since it was new for all I know I'm too young to remember that far back. But my dads friend was the one who was in charge of cleaning it up and junking the cars, instead of junking it he brought it here. Or at least that's how the story was told to me. I do know the guy who originally brought the truck to my dad, I will have to see if there is any way he could apply for the title. The only thing that may snafu that plan is that all of this happened so long ago.

At any rate thanks for the responses guys. Its giving me something to go on at least!